Point-of-sale marketing materials are provided to retailers by the manufacturers or distributors of goods and services. The point-of-sale marketing materials can include merchandisers that are not owned by the retailer but are contracted to be placed in various positions within the retail establishment. The merchandisers can include shelves for supporting the manufacturers' products and traditional paper labels or electronic labels that convey pricing or other marketing or promotional information to a prospective customer. A microprocessor can be provided in conjunction with an electronic display to control a display on a display panel of the electronic label. The electronic labels can include capacitor plates that are positioned in close, non-contact relation with a conductor that extends along the edge of the shelf and is connected through a data distribution network to a central data transmission source. The existing systems allow pricing information on the shelves of the merchandiser to be readily modified from a central control station that may be located in an office in the store.
Manufacturers of the goods displayed on the merchandiser often arrange contractually with the retailer to sell some or all of the products under promotions or other sales that may affect the revenue obtained from the sale of the products. The manufacturer may agree with the retailer to accept a reduced amount of revenue per product sold at the promotion or sale price on the assumption that the reduction in revenue per product will be made up by the increased quantity of products sold, or by less tangible benefits such as increased goodwill with the customers. When a manufacturer of a product has many of these remotely controllable or manually modifiable point-of-sale merchandisers distributed at retailers over a wide region, it is often necessary to employ a large sales force to physically travel to the retail establishments for the purpose of changing and/or verifying the point-of-sale displays. In addition to the expense of employing a large sales force, manufacturers of goods that rely on point-of-sale merchandisers often encounter problems in verifying that contractually agreed upon promotions or sales are actually being displayed, and that the displays are positioned as agreed upon for optimum viewability by potential customers. The point-of-sale marketing materials are known on occasion to be removed, destroyed or covered up by competitors, customers and even the retailers despite contractual obligations.